15. Home Alone

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Macaulay Culkin's claim to fame may be his memorable cheek-slapped scream following a liberal application of aftershave, but this film proves to be far more entertaining than merely adorable. When a couple's young son is left behind during a family vacation, he takes it upon himself to celebrate the holidays in only the way that a 10 year old can: namely, by gorging on junk food, watching adult movies and making trouble for a pair of cat burglars (Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci) who have designs on robbing the place blind. The film's many pratfalls notwithstanding, Culkin was actually a gifted child actor, offering in perfect measures both the enthusiastic thwarting of his adversaries and the wistful loneliness of a kid at Christmas celebrating alone; so if you're home alone yourself and looking for a night of holiday fun, look no further than Home Alone.

14. Love Actually

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There has never been a holiday film that so embraces the concept of romantic love. Weaving a panoply of storylines together (some more effective than others), what emerges is a splendid, heart-warming and sometimes heart-breaking account of finding love (and losing it) amidst the most magical season of the year. Stocking stuffed with stars, including Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Laura Linney, and Colin Firth, and directed by longtime scribe Richard Curtis, it is a Valentine to Christmas romance, and should not be missed by couples in love at the holidays.

13. Planes, Trains and Automobiles

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John Candy is the ultimate annoying travel-mate in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. You may think his character, Del Griffith, is all over the top silliness, but trust us, these guys exist. Steve Martin plays uptight Neal Page, who is desperately trying to make it home to his family in time for Thanksgiving. Candy and Martin make for a perfect odd couple, enduring fires, shared hotel rooms and those famous soft pillows in bed. There aren't too many movies focusing solely on the Thanksgiving holiday. Planes, Trains and Automobiles still holds up and will make a delectable post-gorging treat on Turkey Day.

12. Bad Santa

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Bad Santa proved to be the first Christmas movie in quite awhile that successfully followed a Scrooge-like character without attempting to adhere to the form and format of A Christmas Carol. Billy Bob Thorton is, quite simply, a holiday grump – a belligerent, philandering, drunken criminal with virtually no respect for any other human being, let alone the holiday. And he just so happens to be playing your kid's favorite Santa at the local mall. Frankly, Bad Santa is a movie for people who've always been a little cynical about the holidays, and yet it never sells out the spirit of the season, either. It manages to have its cake and eat it, too, with regard to being both mercilessly raunchy and secretly sentimental, much like Thorton's iteration of Father Christmas. This is one for the adults and it's one gift you definitely don't want to give to your kids.

11. Scrooged

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Bill Murray's Scrooged, directed by Richard Donner, has become a cult holiday classic. The film, loosely based on A Christmas Carol, tells what happens when a self-centered television network exec is tasked with staging a live broadcast of the classic Dickens story. Along the way his own life begins to mirror the tale. Murray stars along with Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover, Carol Kane and Robert Mitchum.